Normally I avoid “guess who trashed the prequels today” kind of posts unless they’re about people working on Star Wars in an official capacity. But this is so horrible I couldn’t let it pass and it gives me a golden opportunity to unload on other things.
Patton Oswalt has long been a prequel basher and once infamously said that he wished he could go back in time and beat George Lucas to death with a shovel so those films wouldn’t be made. Today though he stooped to a low that not even Simon Pegg or Wil Wheaton could reach if they were crawling on Hell’s linoleum floor. Apparently trying to be topical and funny, he tweeted re Alabama senatorial candidate Roy Moore: “Homophobia, pedophilia and NOW white supremacy? If he admits to liking the STAR WARS prequels I’m pulling my support.”
That’s right guys, he’s saying you’re worse than a pedophile, a racist, or a gay basher for liking movies he doesn’t and apparently over 3000 of his followers agree. No word on whether this applies to the new Mrs. Oswalt who voiced Barriss Offee in the Clone Wars. So what does the fandom have to say about this slander of a significant part of it, or trivializing serious issues with a bad joke? Or Lucasfilm?
*Chirping crickets.*
Aside from Naboo News and a few other fans, it’s been a big collective “meh.” I’m not saying everyone needs to send Oswalt death threats or get him tossed off Twitter but no one seems to care either. Just like they didn’t seem to care about author Saladin Ahmed had posted some vulgarisms about Lucas on Twitter and called him a racist (Ahmed has a story in the upcoming Canto Bright anthology) and when questioned about it, the chief of books at Lucasfilm literally played dumb. Sure some fans were livid but too many were like, “Oh well, it’s just one guy I gotta buys the bookz.” A few people grumbled about Wil Wheaton being included in the Certain Point of View anthology but for the most part fans either had nothing to say or bought the book anyway (I’m aware there’s a story in it with Qui-Gon but I’m sorry, that’s not good enough). Lucasfilm has also hired people like Gary Whitta who had some nasty things to say about Lucas online and Chuck Wendig who has to be about the worst ambassador for any brand ever.
I get that fans are wary of saying the wrong thing on social media. It’s an uphill battle to mess with anyone who’s famous because they have thousands of fans who will swarm on you. In addition, Twitter is quick to suspend or ban those who irritate or upset celebrities.
There are also a lot of people who don’t want to say anything because they want to be “positive.” They think that criticizing something makes them somehow disloyal.
That said, I’ve observed there are exactly two things nowadays that DO get fans outraged, at least on social media:
1. EA nickel and diming gamers in its Battlefront II game, complete with setting a record for the most downvoted post ever on Reddit.
2. Any fan who says or posts something that offends certain fans’ political or cultural/social views.
But fans have no time to care a whit about Lucas’s legacy, which is why Lucasfilm keeps hiring guys like Oswalt to write for them or appear in their movies or t.v. shows. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if it happened! And they have no reason not to because it’s clear to them you will keep giving them your money and time regardless.
In the meantime, I can’t be bothered to get off the couch about anything else regarding fandom or Star Wars anymore. If you don’t care, why should I?
Tags: commentary
starwarsprequelappreciationsociety.wordpress.com 
November 16, 2017 at 9:40 pm |
It looks like he is being taken to task by many on his twitter feed on this topic, so he certainly raised the ire of more fans than just us.
November 17, 2017 at 10:01 am |
Nah. I took a look myself and it’s mostly fellow travelers patting him on the back for his politics.
November 16, 2017 at 9:53 pm |
it’s meredith salenger(barriss offee) who he’s married to not adrienne wilkinson i’ve not resorted to bashing him since the death of his wife last year he has a daughter from said marriage if he wants sympathy he can’t say stuff like this it’s disrespectful to people who loved the prequels and it’s not good timing with all the accusations of sexual harassment going on in hollywood right now
November 17, 2017 at 9:40 am |
Ugh, I got them mixed up! Corrected. I knew Salenger did something on the Clone Wars at the very least.
November 17, 2017 at 10:58 am
thanks and may the force be with you
November 16, 2017 at 10:24 pm |
Prequel Derangement Syndrome. It’s a real thing.
November 17, 2017 at 9:41 am |
Indeed it is. PDS, I’m using that from now on.
November 16, 2017 at 10:54 pm |
No one would blame you for “taking a knee” LP. With you as an exception and a scant few others, I’ve largely checked out. Those who remain know who they are. Like yourself, they contribute thoughtful, insightful, and positive dialog to the legacy of George Lucas that has been wrongly denied to him. The overall fandom that remains doesn’t represent me, nor would I want it to.
November 17, 2017 at 5:24 am |
I’ve never heard of him and I don’t buy the Disney Star Wars stuff anymore. I don’t even regard the new movies as Canon.
November 17, 2017 at 6:04 am |
Same here.
November 17, 2017 at 10:49 am |
Same here as well.
November 18, 2017 at 2:16 pm |
Hear, hear! Has anyone seen the new Nissan commercial with “Rey” and “Luke”? I know it is just some car commercial, but I feel it is indicative of the fact that the new regime either does not understand or does not care when it comes to one of the main themes of the Saga – intuition over technology. (I know many Star Wars fans who do not care about that stuff either)
November 18, 2017 at 4:37 pm
Do they drive off in a Nissan ;)?
November 18, 2017 at 8:54 pm
Ha! Actually they do drive off in a Nissan (while dodging At-Ats no less) but only after “Luke” tells “Rey” to turn on some sort of new-fangeled computerized crash-avoidance system before entering a construction zone on the highway. Anyway, I was under the impression that Jedi mentors typically advise one to use their instincts as opposed to some machine.
November 19, 2017 at 10:15 am
Even though it’s the first time Rey’s ever driven a car, I’m sure she drove it like a pro. Bazinga!
November 19, 2017 at 2:03 am
In fact, it has been mentioned that Luke is told to trust his instincts in EP IV while it is shown that Anakin relies more on technology in EP III.
If this is the message of the commercial, I also agree that they forgot this important message – but I’d rather blame Nissan than Lucasfilm.
November 19, 2017 at 10:15 am
They are after all selling cars.
November 17, 2017 at 4:45 pm |
My thoughtful, insightful – can’t say it’s positive – dialog when responding to the original post and thanking Andy for his defense was asswipes all. Which he liked.
November 17, 2017 at 6:39 pm |
I already made a comment on Naboo News about this so I will quote myself here,
“WTF is this problem? Who is he even talking about? Because basically what I am getting out of this idiots tweet, is he will pull support for someone if they like the PT. So basically whoever he is referring to he will still support them if they are into supremacy, pedophilia and homophobia if they or who doesn’t like the PT. I mean I will be honest that typing this is making me sick both physically and mentally. I mean now this is really scratching the bottom of the barrel of PT hating here. Just when you thought they couldn’t get any lower, here we are!
Now let’s see if Simon Pegg or Will Wheaton can one-up him by being even more revolting and disgusting than this pile of ****. I know they are surely capable of the task. But when I seen this, I said, “really?” Like this garbage hasn’t died off yet? I could imagine right now this idiot, Pegg and Wheaton sitting together in a room and bashing the PT and giggling like little wusses. It’s 2017. About a month and a half away from being 2018. Get the f*** over this already. All that can be said, has been said. Nothing new has been brought to the table of hating the PT in years.
SMFH”
But I will add that I didn’t know who he was referring to when he tweeted this. But either way, it is completely moronic to me why this guy would tack on the PT to someone with serious allegations on them? This move by the Oompa Loom…er I mean Patton Oswalt was just nasty all around. And anyone of his “followers” that thought what he had to say was anything of substance or good, need to really take a good look in the mirror and re-evaluate themselves. And the guy he was talking about could go rot as well.
November 17, 2017 at 8:46 pm |
Patton Oswalt is just another self-righteous Hollywood jerk in just about every way. Did moral crusaders like him feel the need to out creeps in their industry like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, etc.?
No, because those guys are the cool kids. Self-serving suck asses like Patton doesn’t want to piss off anybody that will pay him to work.
They just attack politicians who’s views they do not share and geeks who like movies and music artists that aren’t hip. Roy Moore probably deserves criticism but so do others who never will get it from the “enlightened” wannabe subversives like Patton.
This will continue until all of Patton’s homophobic, racist, misogynist behaviors come to light. Cultural elitism at it’s best.
November 18, 2017 at 9:58 am |
John, I’m not approving the message because it is getting into politics (only) and I don’t want to do that here.
November 18, 2017 at 10:00 am |
This isn’t directed at you but I want to remind everyone to read the rules of the house and ask commenters to stay away from the Moore controversy here.
November 18, 2017 at 5:17 am |
The only things I´ve ever seen Patton Oswalt in were Agents of Shield and Veep. How fitting that he plays an iritating and unfunny “comic” relief worse than thousands of Jar Jars in the former and a flat out a-hole in the latter.
November 19, 2017 at 10:42 am |
I promise to boycott all movies and TV shows Patton Oswalt is involved with and any products he endorses after this putrid stunt of his.
Bigotry such as homophobia and white supremacy is far more serious and separate issue than enjoying the SW prequels so Patton has no right to conflate the two like he had.
I fear that Patton could make Simon Peggy and Willy Wheaton get far worse than they already have been. Simon could be inspired by Patton’s recent Twitter stunt to pull something dark that would make his Fall 2015 Big Apple Daily Blunder look like a friendly greeting in comparison. Wil could sink to a new lows like maybe creating or inspiring a TNGer version of StarDestroyer.Net to smear the SW prequels and all who enjoy them on behalf of TNG Trek or labeling the SW prequels and their fans as the biggest treat to TNG-era Trek and 24th Century Trek fans. Just when you think you have reached to bottom of the barrel with those fanatics, they sink even lower. It seems like we have a bottomless pit on our hands when dealing with these SW prequelphobic clowns.
November 19, 2017 at 10:58 am |
Aside from it being against the rules to discuss politics, there is no need to do so in order to denounce Oswalt’s vile, despicable, alleged “joke” anyway. What he said is disgusting and offensive in its own right.
Also, as I’ve pointed out many times, the last prequel came out over a decade ago, and the first one almost two decades ago. That’s an awfully long time to spend wallowing in one’s hatred for some movies, not to mention, wishing Lucas dead, saying you wish you could go back in time and kill him (especially since Oswalt said he wanted to “beat him to death with a shovel”), and likening him to pedophiles.
Pegg, who I thought was THE most repugnant prequel-basher around until I saw this SWPAS post, was not denounced for his words — in fact, he was praised for “courageously saying what everyone is thinking anyway.” It frightens me to think that anyone, let alone everyone, actually likens three movies — and we’re not talking about child pornography or snuff films, here — to the murder of children. More than that, the prequel-haters have constantly claimed that everyone hates the prequels, they’re universally regarded as the worst movies of all time, etc. Yet they also pat themselves, and their media mouthpieces, on the back for their “courage” in denouncing them. How is it courageous to bash the prequels if “everyone” hates them?
November 28, 2017 at 10:05 am |
Another note from me: I can smell concern trolling 5000 miles away. “It’s just a joke” and “let’s get back to (doing whatever)” are telltale signs, especially if it’s from someone who has never commented before.